THE Vineyards

Durant         |          Lazy River          |         Manuela          |      Wind Hill
Exceptional winemaking starts with meticulous, hands-on labor in the vineyard. From bud break to harvest, we are constantly nurturing our vines to provide the best environment and growing conditions possible. Without precise attention to detail, beautiful wines simply cannot be made in the cellar.

We feel the most complete wines are carefully blended from multiple sites. We have a diverse collection of eight highly respected vineyards that spread throughout the Willamette Valley.  The locations vary from 250’ to 825’ in elevation, are home to numerous clones and vary with different soil types contributing to the final blend, ultimately creating more complete and elegant wines that tell us the overall story of our region.

Each growing season, we maintain a high level of dedication to working closely with our growers and their dedicated crews. Careful vineyard management combined with traditional minimalist handling in the winery, result in supple wines of balance and richness.

DURANT VINEYARD


Durant Vineyard

Old vines, meticulous vineyard

Owners: Ken and Penny Durant
Location: Dundee Hills
Year Planted: 1973
Acres Planted: 55
Varietals: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris
Farming Practices: Sustainable

Penny and Ken Durant along with their son Paul, have owned Durant Vineyard in the Dundee Hills since 1973. Situated on two separate but adjacent sites, the vine rows run south and east on clay loam, the red soil from which the Dundee Red Hills takes its name. Site elevation ranges from 200' to 600' feet.

The Durant Vineyard is located in a unique microclimate. This allows the fruit to ripen before the threat of any heavy rains can come during harvest. The Durants are extremely involved in farming their land and employ careful and sustainable agriculture.

With one of the oldest vineyards in the Dundee Hills, Durant wines have set a benchmark for depth of concentration and elegance. The family's goal over the past quarter century has remained the same: to raise high-quality grapes to create superior wines.

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LAZY RIVER VINEYARD


Lazy River Vineyard

The promise of a new vineyard Yamhill - Carlton

Owners: Ned and Kirsten Lumpkin
Location: Yamhill-Carlton District
Year Planted: 1999
Acres Planted: 31
Varietals: Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris
Farming Practices: Sustainable

Owners Ned and Kirsten Lumpkin planted their Lazy River Vineyard in the fall of 1999 and marked their first harvest in 2002.

Located just three miles north of Yamhill, the site features 146 acres, 31 of which are planted with Pinot Noir and a small patch of Pinot Gris and Riesling.

Lazy River Vineyards has a site elevation ranging from 250 to 425 feet, and features an ideal north/south exposure, with a little twist to the west.

The vineyard is located on a bench of Jory soil, common near Dundee but rare in the Yamhill-Carlton District.  The soil is extremely deep and rich. At the foot of the hill, a creek can be found that rambles through a lush and beautiful meadow.

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MANUELA VINEYARD


Manuela Vineyard

Wine is in the blood Cornelius - North Willamette Valley

Owners:  Manuela Bonnet-Buxton
Location: North Willamette Valley
Year Planted: 1973
Acres Planted: 1
Varietals: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris
Farming Practices: Sustainable

Manuela Bonnet-Buxton has wine in her blood (and, as she'll quickly tell you, on her palate!). This purebred Italian hails from Piedmont, a region of Italy known for winemaking, albeit not Pinot Noir!

After traveling to the West, Manuela purchased land on Ferndale Road in Cornelius and planted vines a few years later. Her vision was to test plot, so she could experiment with various trellises. Later, she pared down to strictly Pinot Noir.

The vineyard features just under an acre of Pinot Noir, grown on a northeastern slope at 800' feet.

The combination of the soil and the microclimate, creates a profile that has a unique pepper quality and adds a sparkle when blended with the other Pinot Noirs.

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WIND HILL VINEYARD

A beautiful gem
Wind Hill Vineyard

Owner:  Adam Campbell, Elk Cove Vineyard
Location: Banks, Oregon
Year Planted: 1974
Acres Planted: 50
Varietals: Pinot Noir
Farming Practices: Organic

Windhill Vineyard, twenty miles west of Portland, is perennially one of Oregon’s finest Pinot Noir vineyards. Planted in 1974, the vineyard became part of Elk Cove’s portfolio in 1996 when Adam Campbell purchased it. Temperate winds that blow across the vineyard’s gentle south-facing slopes and a lower elevation (500 feet), allows for mature ripening. The combination of extremely low yields, volcanic Laurelwood soils and great plant material (old vines – own rooted Pommard clone) are all essential elements for the finest Pinot Noir from this site in Western Oregon. Windhill has been farmed with completely organic farming practices since 1999.

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